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U.S. Natl Sled Team Blanks Italy, 10-0, at 2017 WSHC

CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — Declan Farmer (Tampa, Fla.) scored three times and six other U.S. players registered multi-point games as the 2017-18 U.S. National Sled Hockey Team blanked Italy, 10-0, in its second game of the 2017 World Sled Hockey Challenge here at MacLaughlin Arena.

“This was another complete team effort and two games in, we're excited with the way the team is performing,” said Guy Gosselin, head coach of the 2017-18 U.S. National Sled Hockey Team. “We were able to roll all of our lines and see some nice contributions across the board. We'll enjoy the win tonight and be ready to go for practice tomorrow as we get set to face Canada Wednesday.”

Team USA (2-0-0-0/W-OTW-OTL-L) will return to tournament action Wednesday when it faces host Canada. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. local/6 p.m. ET and will be streamed live on HockeyTV.com.

The U.S. opened the game with a five-goal first period. Farmer started the scoring 2:47 into the game when he rifled a shot from the right face-off dot in the top left corner of the goal.

Jack Wallace (Franklin Lakes, N.J.) then made it 2-0 four minutes later by taking a pass from Tyler Carron (Fort Collins, Colo.) and beating Italy’s goaltender Gabriele Araudo high glove-side. One minute later, Brody Roybal (Northlake, Ill.) scored his first goal of the tournament on a Team USA power play with Kevin McKee (Chicago, Ill.) collecting the assist.

With four minutes remaining in the period, Wallace netted his second goal of the game by skating down the right-hand side and firing a shot over Araudo’s blocker side. Noah Grove (Frederick, Md.) accounted for the fifth U.S. goal of the period with his first goal of the tournament in the closing seconds of the first frame.

In the middle stanza, Farmer tallied his second goal of the game just 2:30 into the period before McKee fired home a pass from Roybal two minutes later. With 2:13 remaining in the period, Farmer scored his third goal to complete the hat trick by lifting the puck over a sprawling Araudo to make it 8-0.

Roybal added his second goal of the game five minutes into the third period and Rico Roman (Portland, Ore.)scored his first goal of the tournament in the final minute to account for the 10-0 final.

Jen Lee (San Francisco, Calif.) stopped all five shots he faced to give Team USA its second consecutive shutout of the tournament.

NOTES: Noah Grove (Frederick, Md.) was named the U.S. Player of the Game ... The U.S. outshot Italy, 27-5, went 2-for-4 on the power play and an 0-for-3 on the penalty kill. For the complete box score, click here ... Deloitte, Labatt USA and Toyota are proud sponsors of the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team ... Dan Brennan (Colorado Springs, Colo.), director of sled national teams for USA Hockey, is serving as the general manager of the 2017-18 U.S. National Sled Hockey Team ... Guy Gosselin (Grafton, Wis.), a two-time U.S. Olympian (1988, 1992) and USA Hockey's regional manager of the American Development Model, is in his first season as head coach of the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team. Joining Gosselin behind the bench is assistant coach David Hoff (Bottineau, N.D.) while additional U.S. staff members include team physician Mike Uihlein (Grafton, Wis.), athletic trainer Mike Cortese (Boynton Beach, Fla.) and equipment manager Joel Isaacson (Houghton, Mich.) ... The 2018 U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team is expected to be anounced on Jan. 1, 2018.